Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-06-09
SEA PEARL FISHING.
The Largest and Most Productive Fisher,
Stations of the World.

y
confined to the Persian gulf. coasts of
Ceylon, the Eastern archipelago. Aus
.ralia, the lagoons of many islands in
the Pacific and to Central America.
Fresh water pearls have, as rule, but
little luster, and are consequently of no
great value. For while the Scotch
pearls enjoyed great reputation.
During the summer months the Arabs
carry on sort of pearl fishery on the
coast of the Red Sea. They catch the
mollusks and lay them in the sun so
that they may open quickly. The
pearl fisheries in the Persian gulf,
especially on the coasts of the island Of
Bahrein, are also in the hands of the
Arabs.
The Ceylon pearl fisheries are carried
on on the west coast of Ceylon, in the
gulf of Manaar. south of the island of
the same name, and also on the west
coast of India. near Tuticorn. Ex-
perience has shown that few pearls,
and these of little value, come from
mussels which are not older than five
years. During the fifth and sixth year
the value doubles, and in the seventh
it becomes fourfold. The pearls are
not fully matured if they are taken
out too soon, and, on the other
hand, the animal dies if the pearls
remain too long in the shells. Fol-
these reasons, at the Ceylon fisheries
pearl fishing is prohibited at certain
periods. In sorting the pearls they are
first passed through row of baskets
ten or twelve in number. The eighth
basket in the row has twenty holes, and
the pearls which do not pass through
these holes are said to have the "twen'
tieth measure" The ether baskets have
80, so, so, 100. 200, 400, 600, Loo
holes, etc., and each basket has it:
special name. After the pearls have
been sorted in this measure they are
weighed and their value is noted
China has pearl fisheries near Pakhol
The Philippine Islands produce large
quantities of mother-of-pearl. The en-
tire region from the island of Tawi
Tawi and Lulu to Baselan is one con
tinuous bed of pearl oysters. Here the
Malays and Chinese fish in common
The Lulu fisheries, near Tawi-Tawi, are
according to the statement of an En-
glishman, Mr.. Moore, the largest and
most productive of all the pearl fish
cries in the East Asiatic seas. TIL,
pearls which are caught here have al
ways been famous, and the mother-of
pearl is distinguished by its yellow lus
ter which makes it suitable for many
purposes. The most important pear
fisheries in Queensland are in the hands
of Sydney capitalists. The fisheries ar,
carried on by Malays, who dive to {
depth of six fathoms. The pearl fish
cries on the northwest coast of Austria
liza employ large number of Malay
and natives as divers. Recently tn,
English papers have reported the dis
covery of pearls and mother-of-pear
near New Zealand.
Diving is one of the principal employ
ments for the natives of the Pacif,
Ocean. Here, likewise, mother-of-pear
is the principal object of the fisheries
The oysters live in large colonies, clos
together, and are firmly attached t.
each other; they are attached to tn
bottom by a ligament or band, starting
from their body and running through
the shell. In the live animal this banC
is of dark green, and sometimes gol
bronze color, and fishermen can tel
from its color whether the shells con
tain pearls or not. The shells rcac
their full size when they are seven year
old When the animal has reache
maturity, it tears itself loose from tn
stones. opens its shell and dies. Tn
shells are then covered with corals an
parasites. They become worthless an
the pearls are lost. Occasionally pearl
are found loose in the shells. Tines
are always of a very fine quality, pei
fectly round and often very large. Blu
there is hardly one in a thousand oyster
which contain such pearls. The native
often lose them, owing to the caIele>
way in which they open the shells. Fin
and calm weather is most favorable fo
pearl fishing. The divers wear no speciG
suit, but simply rub their body with oil
so the sun may not blister their Skin
They remain under the water one O
two minutes, and bring up oysters fror
depth of twenty fathoms. They rare
ly 90 to such a depth, but the fine.
oysters are found there. Thus in man
fishing grounds, which were suppose
to be exhausted, great many peal
oysters are found in deep water.
Besides the pearl oyster there is ofte
found in the lagoons of the Pacif
Ocean kind of Venus shell. whic
often contains pearls of great valu,
The fishermen do not look for thes
pearls at all, but it is presumed that
would pay to examine these shells NOR
Systematically. In the Pacific there i
found another pearl-producing mollusb
whose shells greatly resemble those {
the common oyster. They are alway
found attached to rocks, invariably Gu
; by itself; and they are quite rar'
Their pearls are always perfectly sOun'
\ with fine luster and gold color, {
about the size of pea.-N. T. Star.
The Age Of Steel publishes y sun
mary of the statistics collected by ii
American Iron and Steel Association
the nail trade. These statistics she
:, that exclusive of railroad spikes an
horseshoe nails our total production
! cut nails and cut spikes in 1886 W;
s,160.97S kegs of 100 pounds eacl
against 6.696.S15 kegs in 1885, 7.5S1.S1
| larS IN 1891 and Z -69 -S7 lpgS